Aaron Hoos

What would you do if you had to start all over again? What if some disaster suddenly strikes and your small business crumbles down around you. What would you do? Have you thought about it?

Here’s what I would do if someone suddenly hit the reset button on my business. You might say that this is a freelancer’s business plan (although some of it was actually put into practice in the order listed below and some of it was retroactively added as something I wish I’d done but I either learned the hard way or the technology wasn’t available).

1. I would select a target audience that I wanted to reach. It would need to be an audience that I could communicate with effectively and it would need to be a group that I could serve with some kind of deliverable. I don’t need to have a deliverable yet, just some knowledge of the market.
2. I would start a blog. Even if I wasn’t going to be selling anything for six months or more, I’d start a blog. I’d write every single day and fill my blog with useful content.
3. I would start a Twitter account and begin tweeting: Retweeting related content, engaging my followers, and actively following people in my industry.
4. I would write articles and submit them online. Every single day for six months, maybe longer.
5. I would join LinkedIn and start connecting with people: Joining groups, writing recommendations, answering questions.
6. I would join Guru and/or Elance (assuming my deliverable was a service) and start bidding. Every single day; as many as 5-10 projects per day (scaling down as the work started to come in).

That’s it. It’s pretty simple but it works. The keys here are focus and persistence. If you’re starting your business, adopt these as your business plan.

If you’ve been in business for a while, revisit your business plan and ask yourself what you would do if you had to start all over again. Chances are, many of the other things that you’re doing now are less important and potentially not delivering as great of a return.

In today’s news, local news aggregator EveryBlock was acquired byMSNBC (as reported on EveryBlock’s blog). Only months ago, we saw AOL acquire Patch, and AOL indicated that “local” was a huge whitespace opportunity for them.

This has been an interesting shift to observe. The web made a global market available to us, but now, like some kind of prodigal business, we’re returning to our roots — the local market.

It seems to me like there are a few reasons for this change:

• While global markets create opportunities for new clients and vendors, local markets allow more hands-on customer service and just-in-time delivery.
• More importantly (at least from where I’m sitting) consumers may buy billions of dollars worth of goods over the web but they are still people who like to drive to a nearby restaurant or “kick the tires” of certain products before they buy.
• Broader (and cheaper) cellphone coverage.
• GPS (and smartphone apps that tie in to GPS).
• The “right here, right now” feeling that Twitter addresses, especially illustrated in local hashtag use like #NYC or #LA.
• The prominence of local-sorted social media (i.e., “Networks” in Facebook).
• The proven “staying power” — and continued success — of Craigslist or Kijiji.
• The movement away from display (or “disruption”) marketing in the local market. (I think this was a factor in why many businesses went global in the first place — it was cheaper to market over the web to a global audience than to market via billboards to a local audience)
• An increased awareness of the value of networking. (Clarification: We’ve always known that networking was good; we were just reminded of it when we were online and trying to network with others around the world).

How businesses can reach this “new” local market:

1. Investigate your offerings. If they are primarily web-based, explore how you can augment them for a local market.
2. Develop a plan to begin marketing to the local market using a combination of online and offline channels. Specifically, explore how you can use Google Maps or one of Apple’s iPhone apps to integrate your business into a local search.
3. Dust off your network of face-to-face contacts and start talking to them again.  Take them out for coffee.
4. Join a local networking group.
5. Connect with local distributors to bring internet-like affiliate sales relationships to your local market.

Great discussion today on #businesslunchclub (on Twitter; but see BusinessLunchClub.com for more details).

The conversation today centered around delegation, and specifically around something that @IAC_Heather calls “the 3 Strikes, You’re Out” rule. The conversation was primarily between @IAC_Heather, @askleo, and myself (@AaronHoos), with @Hazewalker chiming in towards the end.

You can read our entire conversation on BusinessLunchClub (If you’re not reading this on the day it’s posted, go to BusinessLunchClub.com/users/archive and select July 13 from the calendar)

The “3 Strikes, You’re Out” rules are 3 simple rules to help you know what to delegate. The rules are:

• 3 strikes rule 1: Is it something that you don’t personally have to do; is it something that someone else can do or be trained to do for you?
• 3 strikes rule 2: Does the alternate person that could do it for you have an hourly wage less than your billable wage?
• 3 strikes rule 3: Could you use that spare time on revenue generating activities or to increase your quality of life?

If you’re a business owner who is stuck at your desk for lunch, you might be getting work done but you’re missing out on the powerful networking opportunities of a business lunch. That’s where BusinessLunchClub comes in. BusinessLunchClub is where entrepreneurs on Twitter have lunch. If you’re stuck at your desk but want to do some networking, tweet while you eat and add the hashtags #businesslunchclub, #bizlunchclub, or #blc.

Read 8 Ways to Use BusinessLunchClub to Grow Your Busines.

Here are a couple of tips to help you get more out of BusinessLunchClub:

Either invite a handful of people to participate or tweet out that you’re looking for others to join you.

For example: @AaronHoos @IAC_Heather you guys around for #businesslunchclub?
Or: Stuck at my desk. #bizlunchclub anyone?

You might also want to schedule your next BusinessLunchClub meeting. Mondays with one group of colleagues, Tuesday with another, etc. Consider having a business problem that you’d like to talk about.

Check out BusinessLunchClub.com to see what other people were talking about or to review your conversation, or keep track of those terms in TweetDeck. (Ref. Thanks to Jeffrey Priebe for the TweetDeck reocmmendation)

Just like many business lunches have a purpose (besides eating at the same table), BusinessLunchClub is made more beneficial when you participate with a goal in mind. Perhaps it might be “I need to find someone to help me solve this business problem” or it might be broader, like “I’d like to learn something about a few of my followers or it might just be a nice way to make your stuck-at-your-desk lunch a little more valuable.

Everything you enjoy about business lunches is now available on Twitter with Business Lunch Club. If you find yourself unable to have a real business lunch, simply tweet while you eat and add the hashtags #businesslunchclub, #bizlunchclub, or #blc.

Here are some ideas to get the benefits of a business lunch from Business Lunch Club.

1. Find others who are stuck at their desks over lunch. You’ll make your at-your-desk time far more productive while you eat.

For example: Stuck at my desk. Anyone else in the same boat? #businesslunchclub

2. Start a discussion about a topic that you might normally talk about over lunch. You’ll engage others in topics that interest you and shape the discussion on Twitter.

For example: How has the economy been impacting your lead generation? #businesslunchclub

3. Participate in a discussion that someone else has started. You’ll add value to other people as you talk with them. Several people can join in at once, just like a real discussion.

For example: Re: lead-gen I’ve had to really ramp up the value of my offering. How about you? #businesslunchclub

4. Ask for help. Leverage your relationships to ask professionals for advice on issues you face in business.

For example: Can anyone point me to a good online bookkeeping system? #businesslunchclub

5. Get to know your followers. You have lots of followers but how well do you know them? Get to know them a bit better and perhaps you’ll discover some potential opportunities.

For example: Taking a break from work for #businesslunchclub. @IAC_Heather tell me a bit about your business

6. Talk about a joint venture or collaboration idea. Twitter is the perfect place to start up a discussion, test interest, and find experts to collaborate.

For example: @AaronHoos I’d like to work together on an ebook about sales. #businesslunchclub

7. Introduce a couple of colleagues who you think are a good match for each other. Network and help others to network. This is like #FollowFriday but far more focused.

For example: @IAC_Heather, you should talk to @AaronHoos about that book you’d like to write #businesslunchclub

8. Visit BusinessLunchClub.com and meet other people who are #businesslunchclub participants. Follow them to gain access to a whole new network of people interested in win-win business growth.

For example: Hi @AaronHoos I saw you on BusinessLunchClub.com and wanted to follow you #businesslunchclub